Siege of Ba Sing Se
by Johnathan
Summary: Takes place years before the events of the show during the siege of Ba Sing Se. General Iroh tries to get through to the city and his son, Lu Ten, questions the war. Rated T for safety and war elements.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of its characters. I have not accepted nor will I accept any money for this. I write it for my own enjoyment and nothing else.

* * *

A heavy sigh left from General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, as he surveyed the battlefield beneath him. As his eyes passed over the landscape, they lingered heavily on the large crank in the great wall of Ba-Sing-Se. It was almost a year ago when they had finally torn that crank in the massive stone wall and he still had not beheld the city within it. It had taken countless days to break it and it was taking countless more just to keep it open.

Still, in moments like these he enjoyed reminiscing about that great day. He was so proud of his son, Lu Ten, as he presented the captured Earth Kingdom general and his lieutenant to Iroh's tent.

* * *

"Here, father, are the ones who surrendered," said Lu Ten, motioning to the two men that followed him. He gave a short bow to his father and moved to the side of the tent.

Iroh smiled warmly at the two men as they knelt in front of him. His eyes passed over them briefly as he motioned for nearby servant. The lieutenant shifted uncomfortably where he knelt; sneaking glances to the general beside him. The general, however, was stone; in posture, expression and presence.

"Would you like some tea, gentleman?" Iroh offered.

The servant lowered a tray in front of them with freshly poured cups of tea on it. Holding the tray to each one, they both took a cup for themselves. The lieutenant looked at his cup with suspicion, while the general sipped his casually.

"I find that nothing relaxes the nerves and the spirit like a nice cup of tea, would you not agree general?" asked Iroh as he took a cup for himself and kneeling at his place across the table from them. The general nodded slowly and took a long sip. After a long pause he set his cup down and looked at Iroh.

"General Iroh, I presume. I am General Lao, and this is my lieutenant, Lee. May I be the first to congratulate you on your victory? It is an impressive feat."

"That is quite a compliment coming from you, general."

"Enjoy it, for the view through the break will be the closest you ever get to the city."

Iroh chuckled softly. "Well, I suppose we will see. I am a patient man."

"The year you have spent here already is proof of that, general. I merely speak of the strength of the Earth Kingdom. They will not yield to you, or your nation."

"Perhaps not, but I do hope that they will at least consider it before we are forced to burn your city to the ground." Iroh stated, glancing at the general over the rim of his tea cup. Even with his attention on General Lao, however, he still noticed Lieutenant Lee clench his fists strongly at the mention of the city in flames.

"Indeed, we will see," replied the general as he locked eyes with Iroh. After a pregnant pause, they finally broke eye contact and Lao looked toward Lu Ten. "I believe you are the one who has my dagger?" Lu Ten nodded slightly and produced the pearl dagger from his sash. General Lao turned his attention back to Iroh. "Since it is to be a spoil of war, then let me offer it to you as a gift. Consider the inscription carefully, general, and know that it is a creed of the Earth Kingdom."

Lu Ten handed it to his father, who promptly opened the sheath and studied the inscription. "Never give up without a fight," he read aloud. Iroh let a slight smile spread across his face and turned to the enemy general. "I believe we understand each other."

"Very well," Lao stated as he, followed by Lee, raised to their feet. Iroh followed suit and stood with them. They all then politely bowed to each other and the two earth benders exited the tent, escorted by Lu Ten.

Once outside, they paused and Lee leaned closer to Lao.

"What do you mean, never give up? You just surrendered!" He barked in an angry whisper.

"Surrender does not signify utter defeat, Lee. Sometimes the greatest strategy is to wait," General Lao responded calmly as he turned his head ever so slightly toward Lu Ten. Lee's gaze followed his and fell on the fire bender behind them. He then quickly glanced down in shame, realizing that he had spoken so openly in front of the enemy.

Once the guards had come and escorted the two men down the hill, Lu Ten entered his father's tent again.

He found his father holding the dagger in one hand and a newly filled cup of tea in the other. Lu Ten smiled at him warmly as he strode over to his father's side.

"That went much better than I was expecting," he said pouring a cup of tea for himself.

"I must say that it was quite informative. General Lao is an admirable opponent. I wonder if he would be interested in a game of Pai Sho," Iroh stated with a smile as he sheathed the dagger and set it on the table.

"Do you think he was right? About us never getting in?"

Iroh gave a glance to his suddenly serious son. One thing that always pleased him about Lu Ten was his ability to look much deeper into things than most others. It filled Iroh with pride to know that he had turned out so wise even at such an early age. It did, however, tend to make Lu Ten a bit of a worrier at times. He will outgrow that, though, thought the fire general.

"It is up to us to prove him right or wrong, my son. Ultimately, the victor will be the one whose will was the strongest and the most resolute." Iroh said, matching Lu Ten's serious tone.

"But how will I know if my will is strong enough?" asked Lu Ten, turning to face Iroh.

"You can not make your will stronger by choice. Will comes from a devotion to ones own path. If you understand your path in destiny and devote yourself to it, than your will shall become set in it and almost nothing can stop you," Iroh responded as he put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder.

Lu Ten smiled. "Than if will has to do with devotion, then I guess we should just launch all our tea into the city. If we did, you'd be unstoppable."

Iroh instantly grabbed the pot of tea and cradled it closely to his chest. "Don't you even suggest such a terrible thing!"

"Sorry father, I didn't mean it. Besides, you know I'd be lost without it too," Lu Ten said with a chuckle. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," his father responded. Iroh watched as Lu Ten exited the tent, but did not relax his grip on the tea pot until he was sure his son was gone. He knew Lu Ten was joking, but one could never be too sure when it comes to tea.

* * *

Iroh paused in his thoughts as he saw several of the catapults launch several fireballs into the gap. He did not realize that the battle field had been cleared enough today to risk firing the catapults, but that was the trouble of being the general, watching everything makes it hard to notice the little things.

Without fail, each fireball was met with a wall of rock that would instantly form from the ground or the wall. Explosions erupted from all over the gap, but none of the fireballs made it through.

Sighing again, Iroh turned to the desk that had been placed outside his tent. Taking a moment, he flipped through assorted maps and orders to and from the battle field. At last he found the page that detailed the campaign plans for Lu Ten's latest mission to the wall. After a year of large and small assaults with many different strategies, lately they had decided to try sneakier methods. Lu Ten and two other elite fire benders were to sneak in and scout for weakness. They were supposed to be back already, but still no sign of Lu his son.

Glancing back to the gap in the wall, Iroh started to feel nervous.


	2. Chapter 2

Lu Ten looked up at the massive crank in the wall beside him as it shook from the Fire Nation assault. There, on the inside of the wall, he could see the Earth Kingdom soldiers bending the stone from the wall and the ground carefully to bare the attacks. Each one moving with such grace and timing, it was no wonder they had held the city for so long.

Pulling his straw hat a little lower, he turned his attention back to the city. He moved casually through the back allies of the mostly evacuated area, looking for the rendezvous point. The other two were not going to be there for an hour or two yet, but something in him made him feel nervous about the mission. Or, perhaps something deeper was bothering him. He shook the thought away quickly.

Feeling self conscious, he adjusted his Earth Kingdom attire a little as he walked. It had been quite hard to secure good civilian clothes from the enemy, but he could not help but feel that everyone who looked at him knew he was fire nation. Not that there were that many people around, but he still felt as though eyes were always on him.

He didn't used to feel this way during a mission. Granted, he had not done too much spy work, but even in times past it had never had such an effect on him. However, no previous mission had gone wrong like this before.

It was supposed to be a simple infiltrate and scout job. An admiral, an ensign and he were to find out their numbers and current defense and return to base. If anything went wrong, split up and rendezvous at a certain location. Things never quite go according to plan.

Once they had safely entered the city and got a fare distance from the front line, they began their task. Everything was fine until the ensign decided to suddenly run deeper into the city. Lu Ten had taken a few steps after him when the hand of the admiral firmly gripped his shoulder and nodded to a few Earth soldiers that ran after him. Sticking to the plan, Lu Ten and the admiral split up and lay low until the agreed time.

Turning a corner, his eyes fell on a large, broken stone fountain. All around it was the rumble of where houses once stood. The site was now totally useless to anyone in the city. That made it the perfect rendezvous point.

Taking one last look around, Lu Ten made his way to the base of the fountain and sat down. A heavy sigh of relief escaped him as he made himself comfortable for the wait. Finally, he felt half way safe again. That is until he heard footsteps beside him.

Instantly, he was one his feet and readied himself for battle, only to be met by the hard face of the admiral.

"In the future, you should not be so quick to assume a fire bending stance when under cover," the admiral stated bluntly.

"Forgive me Admiral Jeong Jeong," Lu Ten responded with a short bow. "I have not quite been myself today."

Jeong Jeong's one eyebrow rose in interest, "Oh really? Why is that?"

"I suppose it is just the complications of the mission getting to me." Lu Ten said with a sudden distant look in his eyes.

"No, that is not it at all. It is something deeper that troubles you," Jeong Jeong stated as he moved to take a seat be the fountain.

Lu Ten whipped towards the admiral in surprise. Slowly he took a seat next to Jeong Jeong and asked, "What do you think is bothering me?"

"Do not take me for a fool and waist my time with useless questions and denial. You and I both know where your thoughts are."

Suddenly, Lu Ten felt very nervous. But why? He had no need to be. Didn't he?

"The people of the Earth kingdom are strong and steady. The water tribe is peaceful and wise. The air nomads are free and graceful. But we are a raging beast that can not be controlled. All consuming," Jeong Jeong said distantly as he surveyed the damage around them.

Confusion washed over Lu Ten in increasing waves the more Jeong Jeong spoke. A mixture of feeling that he could not identify fast enough were assaulting him on every level he could feel.

"What you're saying; its treason," Lu Ten stated softly.

"Treason? Against whom? It is a fact that I state, nothing more. You, being in line for Fire Lord, should know such a simple fact by now."

"What you're implying is treason. You believe we're doing the wrong thing. That the war is wrong," said Lu Ten as he turned to face Jeong Jeong.

"And so do you," stated Jeong Jeong, as he turned to look Lu Ten in the eye. "That is what is bothering you. You know is wrong, but you won't admit it."

Lu Ten felt the sweat growing on his forehead. This was a preposterous thought, but he could not deny that part of him was feeling relived at the Admiral's words.

"Take this for example," the admiral continued as he took a small doll out of his sash. "I found this in the ruins. I only hope that its former owner is alright. What can justify doing this to these people? Or the air benders, if any are left? They did not attack us. We are doing what fire does best; consuming without control."

He tossed the doll into Lu Ten's hands. He looked hard at the green toy and slowly opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when another spoke.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked the ensign as he strode confidently into the area.

Looking up suddenly from the doll, Lu Ten noticed Jeong Jeong's face turn from stern to angry.

"There you are Zhao! How dare you run off and endanger the mission. We could all have been caught or killed do to your recklessness."

A dark grin spread across ensign Zhao's face. "A necessary risk, Master Jeong Jeong, for I have returned with vital information from their university for the winning of the war." Zhao held up a few scrolls in his hand triumphantly.

"I don't care!" yelled the fire bending master, suddenly on his feet. "You have no control or restraint! When we get back I am having you transferred to General Shu. Perhaps you will learn discipline patrolling the desert."

Zhao's smile dissolved quickly into a scowl. He opened his mouth to argue, but was silenced at the sound of movement down the road. The three fire benders exchanged glances silently and quickly began moving toward the wall.

With all the silence of their journey back, Lu Ten could not help but replay his conversation with Jeong Jeong over and over in his mind. "_And so do you_…."


	3. Chapter 3

General Iroh paced back and forth across his tent. The sounds of the siege had faded and the hostiles had lessened a bit. Everything seemed much calmer all around the battlefield, but Iroh had never quite felt so nervous. They had been gone for far too long.

Exiting his tent, he made his way to the desk outside and slid into the seat. Tapping on the desk with one hand, he motioned the servants nearby with the other. Anticipating his order, the servant produced a fresh pot of tea and poured a cup for the general. Iroh thanked the servant, but did not drink. He merely held it in his hands as he stared off to the wall.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up the hill. Hope filled him as he stood up from his seat to see who it was. Agonizingly long moments passed until, finally, three figures walked up over the crest of the hill.

Relief filled Iroh at the sight of his son coming up to great him. Lu Ten gave him a smile as removed his straw hat and bowed to his father. Every part of Iroh wanted to throw his arms around his son, and it took all his restraint not to, but he knew it would not be right to do so in front of the soldiers. Iroh simply returned the bow.

The other two men stood beside Lu Ten and gave bows as well. Iroh returned theirs, but his expression had become stern as he regarded them.

"Admiral Jeong Jeong, would you care to inform me why your have returned so late?" asked Iroh with sharp tension in his voice.

Zhao stepped forward with a smug smile, "General, I am happy to report that I -"

"I did not address you, ensign." Iroh said with a soft but threatening voice.

"But I have vital information for the-"

"You are excused ensign!" came Iroh's sharp reply.

* * *

Looking at the stern face of the general, Zhao's smile faded as he turned and began to walk down the hill. Griping the scrolls tightly in his hand, he put all away in his sash except one. The one titled: _Wan Shi Tong's Library_. Then, with one last glare to the three men at the tent, Zhao strode away.

* * *

Iroh turned back to the men in front of him and addressed Jeong Jeong. "Forgive me, admiral, but I sometimes find it hard to believe that you taught him."

"I can not say he learned much of value. If you will excuse me general, I will go after him. Your son should be able to fill you in on the mission," replied Jeong Jeong. Then, giving a small bow to Iroh, he left down the hill.

Turning to his son, Iroh opened the flap of the tent and let his son enter. Just before entering himself, however, he quickly grabbed the teapot on his desk and two cups.

Entering, Iroh saw Lu Ten standing perfectly at attention.

"General, sir," he began, "The mission was-"

"Prince Lu Ten," said Iroh, cutting him off. "I am just pleased that you are alright, my son. I will hear about the mission later. For now, how are you?" Pouring him a cup of tea, Iroh noticed his son relax a little, but only a little.

"I'm fine father, thank you," he responded taking the cup.

"I was actually just thinking about the day we broke through the wall. It reminded me about the dagger from the general. I am thinking about giving it to your cousin Zuko," stated Iroh as he settled into a seated position.

"Oh, I think he would like that," said Lu Ten distantly, taking a seat as well. After a moment, he seemed to shake himself a bit and pulled a doll out of his sash. "If you do write them, you can send this for Azula then." Lu Ten studied it briefly and handed it to his father. "I think it's the latest fashion, but I don't know. It was found, among the debris."

Sensing something in his son's tone, Iroh set the doll down and looked at Lu Ten carefully. "Are you sure nothing is bothering you, my son?"

Lu Ten shifted uncomfortably under his father's gaze. "It's nothing really."

"Do not try and fool me, I have seen that face a hundred times and heard that excuse just as many. What is it?"

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

Iroh leaned back slightly and considered his son's words. "What exactly are you referring too?"

"The war. I don't think its right," Lu Ten replied with sudden confidence.

The shock of his statement hit his father hard. Both of them were in line for Fire Lord and this was a talk he thought he would never have with his son. Before he could process his answer, Lu Ten continued.

"If I am to win, then I must believe in what I do, and at the moment I don't. You taught me that the world works on balance, and we are destroying it. The air benders could all be gone. The Avatar may never return and innocent people are suffering. For what, father?"

"That is enough!" Iroh bellowed with sudden force. "I will not have my own son speak such disloyalty toward his own family."

Lu Ten's head fell slightly as he stood. "Forgive me, father, it is not my place to question the wisdom of the Fire Lord."

Iroh's comforting smile came back to his face as he stood to face his son. "It is okay. I understand that you are asking some big questions, but your destiny is already clearly in front of you. You will one day be Fire Lord and all it will become clear to you."

"Thank you, father. I was just confused. To make up for my dishonorable remarks, please permit me to go back to the front line to lead tomorrow's assault" stated Lu Ten softly.

"You may, but please, be careful," replied Iroh as he laid a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. Lu Ten smiled weakly at him and turned to leave. Iroh escorted him out of the tent and watched him walk down the hill. Once Lu Ten was out of view, Iroh took a seat at his desk. After a long pause, he grabbed his pen and began to write a letter to his brother's family.


	4. Chapter 4

Lu Ten never thought much about putting on amour before. In fact most times he spent those moments wishing the servants would finish putting it on faster. This time, however, his mind was overwhelmed with various thoughts, and for some reason the amour seemed heavier than normal as it was layered upon him.

Each piece was custom made for him for moments such as this. The armor of the royal family with each emblem placed perfectly. The design had been refined for a hundred years, but the symbol of power that came with it had not. Lu Ten felt that power in it now, he was feeling crushed by it.

He replayed the conversation with his father in his mind constantly as the servants finished readying him. He found himself clinging hard to Iroh's words and trying his best to put all of his doubt for the war out of him. He would need to focus for the battle ahead.

* * *

Once again, Iroh paced atop the hill, awaiting the return of his son. A stinging feeling of guilt washed over him as he thought of his last conversation with Lu Ten. He had not meant to be so hard on him, but to speak against their own family was a shock he had not been prepared for.

Still, what he had said stayed with Iroh in a way he did not understand. Throughout Iroh's life he had come to understand the concept of balance quite well but he had never thought of it in regard to the war. It was worse than that; he had never let himself think of it. In a way that he did not want to admit, he was beginning to think that his son may have been right.

Shaking himself slightly, he smiled and decided to mention in discreetly to Lu Ten later. He would not admit anything yet, but it was only fare to let Lu Ten give his argument.

* * *

Flames engulfed the crank in the wall as Lu Ten reached the front lines. The battle was intensifying by the moment with flame and rock moving everywhere. The main group was fighting hand to hand everywhere along the crack with more troops on both sides pushing in every moment.

Drawing his broad sword, Lu Ten gave a cry and charged through the wall of flames. On the other side, he was instantly met by the horrific site of the devastation. Fire and war had caused so much destruction and it still burned further out.

His eyes drifted around until his eyes locked on a pair of dark brown eyes. Just a little ways in front of him, was little girl frozen in horror where she stood. In horror of him.

His sword dropped.

All sound had left him, and the world blurred around him as he looked back at her. Nothing mattered anymore; not the war, not his throne. Jeong Jeong was right. Nothing is worth this.

Only the scream of an incoming fire ball brought his senses back to him. With a frantic glance behind him, Lu Ten saw the blast coming and realized it was headed for him. In sudden desperation he ran forward and pushed the girl and far as he could away from him, praying it would be enough.

Then, all went dark.

* * *

A cold chill swept over Iroh as he paced back and forth in his tent. It had been too long. Silently swearing to keep him off the front from now on Iroh paced faster. Giving nervous glances toward the tent opening he tried to mentally calm himself.

His heart leapt momentary as the flap pulled back. He took a step forward only to see that it was not his son that entered, but a simple soldier. Not particularly interested in small affairs at the moment, he stood solid and waited to hear the soldiers business quickly. His hear sank, however, when the soldier said nothing, and merely handed him a scroll.

He tried to stop his hands from shaking slightly as he opened the message, but could not. As he read it, all feeling left him. His whole body shook and everything around him blurred.

As the scroll fell the floor, Iroh's head fell back and he let out a scream of such anguish and despair, that he was not able to control the fire that suddenly poured out with it.

Collapsing to his knees, he did not hear the voices of those around him awaiting orders. He did not notice the tent burning down around him. All was dark to him. He buried his face in his hands and wept bitterly for the only thought left in him.

His son would never come back.


End file.
